HEWLETT-PACKARD COMPANY

Hewlett-Packard is slimming down to flex its muscle in big data, cloud computing, and security. HP provides one of the tech world's most comprehensive portfolios of hardware, software, and services. It is the world’s second-largest provider of PCs ( Lenovo is #1); other products include servers, storage devices, printers, and networking equipment. The company’s services unit offers IT and business process outsourcing, application development, consulting, systems integration, and other technology services. HP generates software sales through enterprise IT management, big data, and security applications. The 75-year-old company, which serves customers worldwide, in 2014 announced plans to split into two companies, taking its restructuring to the ultimate level.

Operations

HP’s largest segment is its personal systems (PCs) group, which accounts for nearly 30% of sales. Enterprise servers, storage, and networking equipment brings in another 25%, while the printing and services groups each contribute about 20%. Software and financial services (leasing, financing) round out the company’s offerings.

Geographic Reach

The company generates about 35% of its in the US with the rest coming from such markets as Ireland, Israel, UK, Spain, Singapore, China, India, and Japan.

It has facilities across the globe with geographic headquarters in Geneva; Houston; Miami; Mississauga, Canada; Singapore; and Tokyo.

Sales and Marketing

HP markets its products directly, as well as through a wide range of third-party channels, including retailers, resellers and distributors, original equipment manufacturers, independent software vendors, and systems integrators.

Financial Performance

HP reported revenue of $112 billion in fiscal 2013 (ended October), down 7% from 2012 and the lowest revenue reported since 2007. It saw declines across all segments that year, ranging from 10% in personal systems to 3% in printing. Those two segments continued to be impacted by weak consumer demand. Weak enterprise IT demand -- in Europe, particularly -- impacted both the enterprise products and services segments. The relatively small software segment, which was a bright spot in 2012 (growing 20%), fell 4% in 2013. The company's net income that year was $5 billion, a substantial improvement over the 2012 loss of $13 billion as a result of write-downs in the value of Autonomy (because of “accounting improprieties” according to HP) and 2008 acquisition Electronic Data Systems.

Strategy

In 2012 HP announced a sweeping reorganization intended to thwart faltering profits and a declining share price by streamlining operations and focusing more on sales to businesses than consumers. The company is looking for a simplified organizational structure to boost innovation and save money. It also expects headcount reductions as part of the initiative will number nearly 30,000 (about 8% of its workforce) by the end of fiscal 2014. HP plans to reinvest its savings around three areas of strategic focus: cloud computing, big data and analytics, and security.

HP has announced some plans for each segment. For its services segment, the company wants to add to its cloud computing, security, and information analytics capabilities, as well as shift its portfolio to include more profitable and higher growth services. In its software unit, HP plans to increase development of onsite and cloud-based security, big data, and application lifecycle and infrastructure applications. In its enterprise servers, storage, and networking business, the company plans to increase its development of each product line to create a converged infrastructure that will be the foundation for other initiatives including cloud, virtualization, big data analytics, social media, and modernization of legacy products.

In response to weak sales, HP shut down its short-lived tablet and smartphone business, which was centered on a wireless operating system known as webOS and a line of mobile phones acquired in the 2010 purchase of smartphone pioneer Palm. As such, in early 2014 it sold a portfolio of 1,400 of its and Palm's granted and pending patents to Qualcomm. The patents, which detailed fundamental mobile operating system techniques, were sold for an undisclosed amount.

In 2014, the company announced plans to break into two entities: Hewlett-Packard Enterprise, which will focus on enterprise hardware and services, and HP Inc., which will focus on PCs and printers. The move is to give the new entities more focus and flexibility in dealing with rapid changes in technology. The split is expected to be final in 2015.

Mergers and Acquisitions

Although 2013 and 2012 were quiet years for acquisitions for the company, HP has made significant purchases in the past few years. In 2011, in the largest of its four acquisitions, it paid $10.2 billion to acquire UK-based data repurposing software maker Autonomy to bolster its enterprise software aspirations, specifically in content and information management and business intelligence. Autonomy also brought solid financials to HP, with double-digit revenue growth and good operating margins.

Among the company’s nearly dozen 2010 purchases were storage hardware and software provider 3PAR and networking hardware and software firm 3Com. HP hoped 3PAR, which was picked up for around $2.3 billion after a bidding war with rival Dell, would give it a boost in the booming market for corporate data storage systems. 3Com, which was bought for just more than $3 billion in cash, made a nice addition to HP's ProCurve networking line and added to its data center offerings. The acquisition has helped HP keep up with networking equipment vendors Brocade Communications and Juniper Networks and put the company in greater competition with networking giant Cisco Systems, which took aim at one of HP's strongest segments when it introduced blade servers for the data center as part of its Unified Computing System product line.